61b 



S P I 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



SP I 



* Stem Shrubby. 



1. Spirsa Laevigata; Smooth-leaved Spireea. Leaves lan- 

 ceolate, quite entire, sessile ; racemes compound : shrubby, 

 with round branches; flowers longer than the pedicel, white, 

 alternate. Native of Siberia, in valleys, at the foot of the 

 loftier Altaic mountains, which are covered with snow. It 

 flowers there in the spring, ripening its capsules at the begin- 

 ning of August, and then flowering again from the lateral 

 branches. The shoots being tough, straight, and of a pro- 

 per size, are used by the Cossacks for ram-rods. The leaves 

 are gently and pleasantly astringent, and may serve as a suc- 

 cedaneum for Tea. It flowers here from April to June. 



2. Spiraea Salicifolia ; Willow-leaved Spireea. Leaves ob- 

 long, serrate, smooth ; racemes decompounded. Four feet 

 high, with smooth rod-like stems, and yellow branches; 

 corollas of a rose-red colour, paler when expanded. On 

 the banks of rivers it is often a fathom high, with longer 

 leaves and large handsome racemes of flowers, as it appears 

 in gardens; but on the rocky sides of mountains it is smaller 

 and more branched, with shorter leaves, and a very short 

 simple raceme. It is found in Siberia, beginning from the 

 river Obi, and thence becomes gradually more abundant 

 about the Jenisca, and in the country beyond lake Baikal : 

 it is sometimes found in the moist hedges of Westmoreland, 

 and in many places on the borders of Winandermere; and 

 also between Poolbridge and Colthouse, near Hawkshead 

 in Cumberland ; and in a wood at Hafod in Cardiganshire. 

 There are several varieties ; one with broad leaves, a native 

 of North America. 



3. Spiraea Caliosa; Callous Spireea. Leaves lanceolate, 

 acute, serrate, subvillose ; stem downy ; panicle decom- 

 pounded, subfastigiate. Flowers red; branches and branch- 

 lets alternate, roundish, villose, purplish, erect. Native of 

 Japan, flowering in June. 



4. Spirsea Tomentosa; Scarlet Spiriea. Leaves lanceolate, 

 unequally serrate, tomentose beneath ; flowers doubly racemed : 

 they are very small, and of a beautiful red colour, appearing 

 in July, August, and September. Native of Pennsylvania. 



5. Spirtea Argentea; Silvery-leaved Spireea. Leaves silky, 

 wedge-shaped, marked with lines, serrate at the tip, and some- 

 what plaited ; racemes compound ; stalks slender, branching 

 out near the ground. Native of New Granada. 



6. Spiraea Alpina; Siberian Alpine Spireea. Leaves linear- 

 lanceolate, toothletted, very smooth ; corymbs lateral. Shoots 

 a yard high; flowers white. Native of Siberia. 



7. Spirffia Hypericifolia; Hypericum-leaved Spireea. Leaves 

 obovate, quite entire; umbels sessile. The flowers are white: 

 they appear in May and June, and being produced on almost 

 the whole length of the branches, this shrub makes a good 

 appearance during the time of flowering. Native of North 

 America, in dry swamps. 



8. Spiraea Chainaedrifolia ; Germander-leaved Spireea. 

 Leaves obovate, gash-toothed at the tip; corymbs peduncled. 

 Flowers biggish, white, fugacious, and having a weak virose 

 smell ; shoots abundant, seldom two ells hitrh, the thickness 

 of the ringer, wand-like, branched ; wood brittle. This species 

 varies very much, especially with larger or smaller leaves, 

 more or less cut, but more commonly quite entire and ovate- 

 acute. Native of Siberia, Hungary, Japan, and China. In 

 Kamtschatka the leaves are used as a succedaneum for Tea; 

 and they make tobacco-pipes of the straight shoots. This 

 shrub makes beautiful hedges, being entirely covered with 

 flowers in June. The capsules ripen in autumn ; but it does 

 not grow readily from seed; nor throw out suckers so readily 

 as some of its conveners. 



9. Spiraea Ulmifolia ; Elm-leaved Spiraa. Leaves ovate, 



lanceolate, doubly toothed ; corymbs peduncled. Flowers 

 larger, and stem higher, than those of the preceding species. 

 Native of Carniola, and Siberia. 



10. Spiraea Crenata; Hawthorn-leaved Spireea. Leaves 

 obovate, acute, toothed at the tip, three-nerved ; corymbs 

 clustered, peduncled. Stems several, scarcely two ells 

 high, very much branched from the bottom; flowers small- 

 ish, white, odorous. Pallas says, this is the only plant of 

 its genus that is indigenous of Russia, and that the leaves 

 are so astringent as to tan leather. It flowers about the 

 middle of May, ripening fruit in August. Native of Spain, 

 Hungary, Russia, and Japan. 



11. Spiraea Triloba; Three-lobed-leaved Spireea. Leaves 

 roundish, subcordate, obtusely lobed, toothed ; umbels pe- 

 duncled. Flowers middle-sized, white; stems numerous, 

 scarcely thicker than a swan's quill, very much branched. 

 It multiplies very little by the root. This elegant shrub is a 

 native of Siberia, but is not found until we arrive at the 

 Altaic chain of mountains ; thence it continues eastward to the 

 Jenisca and the lake Baikal, and seldom exceeds two feet. 



12. Spireea Thalictroides ; Meadow-rue-leaved Spireea. 

 Leaves obovate, obtuse, subtrilobate ; umbels lateral, sessile. 

 Flowers white; branches straight. This elegant species is a 

 native of the transalpine parts of Dauria. 



13. Spiraea Opulifolia; Currant-leaved Spireea. Leaves 

 ovate, three-lobed, serrate ; corymbs peduncled. The flow- 

 ers are produced in roundish bunches at the end of the 

 branches ; they are white, with some spots of a pale red. 

 This species rises with many shrubby branching stalks, eight 

 or ten feet high in good ground, but ordinarily five or six 

 feet only. It is commonly known in the nurseries by the 

 name of Virginian Guelder Hose. Native of Canada aud 

 Virginia, on the banks of rivers. 



14. Spiraea Sorbifolia; Service-tree-leaved Spireea. Leaves 

 pinnate ; leaflets uniform, serrate ; stem shrubby ; flowers 

 panicled, small, and white. This rises with shrubby stalks 

 like the second species, but sends out horizontal branches, 

 which are slender, and covered with a brown bark. Native 

 of Eastern Siberia, in boggy woods, wet valleys, and on the 

 banks of torrents : it is abundant as far as Kamtschatka ; 

 and flowers at the beginning of July. 



15. Spirsea Betulifolia; Birch-leaved Spireca. Leaves wide- 

 ovate, inciso-serrate, glabrous; corymbs terminal, compound, 

 fastigiate, leafy; flowers tinged with red. Grows to the height 

 of about a foot, and is found in the mountains of Virginia. 



16. Spiraea Capitata. Leaves ovate, sublobate, duplicate- 

 dentate, tomentose; corymbs terminal, heaped together, sub- 

 rapitate, peduncled at great length; calices tomentose. 

 Found on the north-west coast of North America. 



17. Spiraea Discolor. Leaves ovate, lobed, dentated, 

 subplicate; panicles terminal, peduncled, very branchy. 

 This shrub grows to the height of about five feet, and is 

 found on the banks of the Kooskoosky. 



** Stem Herbaceous. 



18. Spireea Aruncus; Goafs-beard Spireea. Leaves super- 

 decompound; spikes panicled; flowers dioecious. Root per- 

 ennial; stem annual, from three to four feet high; flowers 

 white, and feathery. Native of Germany, Austria, Carniola, 

 Dauphiny, Switzerland, Piedmont, Siberia, Japan, and Vir- 

 ginia. It flowers in June and July. 



19. Spiraea Filipendula; Common Dropwort. Leaves 

 interruptedly pinnate; leaflets uniform, serrate, smooth; stem 

 herbaceous; flowers cymed, many-styled. Root perennial, 

 consisting of oval tubers or solid lumps, hanging from the 

 main body by threads; whence the common name. The 

 tubers enable it to resist drought, and make it hard to bo 



